Page 48 of Origins
Titus gathered my body toward his, arms under my shoulders and knees. His face twisted as he straightened; and, for a moment, I wondered if I was too heavy. But then he spoke, “I suppose you take warm baths, right? You aren’t Russian?”
Was he…making a joke? Trying to make me feel better? That was kind of sweet. I shivered uncontrollably, and couldn’t speak. I shook my head in response.
He frowned slightly before pulling me closer, holding me impossibly tight to his large chest. All I could hear was the steady, quick pounding of his heart. The warmth of his body was divine, and proprietaries fled as I molded myself against him.
He began walking and his chest rumbled as he spoke. “She is freezing. We need to warm her. Who only keeps one towel in a bathroom?”
Fabric was suddenly draped over me, but I half-paid attention. The angles of Titus’ jaw were distracting from this vantage point.
“Dude,” Titus deadpanned, “you don’t need to strip, Miles. We aren’tthatfar away from the blankets.”
“I am being a gentleman,” Miles responded. I glanced down then, and noticed that Miles had taken off his shirt and tucked it around me. And now there was somethingelseto distract me.
Miles didn’t seem to notice my stare. “In my country, we are taught to treat a lady right.”
“Stop using that as an excuse for everything!” Titus growled. “You didn’t even grow up there during your formative years. I bet you spoke French to her, didn’t you? You can’t do things like that—speak English.”
“Why can’t I?” Miles shrugged, his muscles rippling as he strolled beside us as we descended the stairs. “You’re only being protective because you didn’t think of covering her first.”
“I’m holding her!”
The conversation halted as we entered the living room. I was grateful for the interruption. While it had been fascinating to learn about my friends, and to witness their interactions, it was hard for me to focus at the moment.
The second we neared the fireplace, Julian approached us with a blanket.
I had expected Titus to position me on the floor—to let me bask in front of the fire. But without skipping a beat, he proceeded to sit cross-legged on the rug—cradling me as Julian tucked the blanket around the two of us.
No one seemed to be disturbed by this.
“T- Titus…” I shivered, even as the warmth of his body and fire seemed to permeate into my pores. “I can sit by myself.”
He ignored me and spoke to Damen, who was now kneeling in front of the two of us. “It was freezing,” Titus told him.
Damen frowned as he cupped my cheek—his grey eyes holding mine. He was concerned, but he still also appeared to be angry. I wondered what role he—they— played in this. What did they know about what happened that I don’t know?
His lips thinned as he responded to Titus, but he looked directly at me when he spoke. “It shouldn’t have been affected—Miles made it. It saved her life, for sure.” Damen addressed me now, “Did you use the whole bottle?”
I was struck-dumb by the intensity of his gaze—but still nodded in an affirmative response.
And as my body slowly began to warm, another kind of warmth began to spread through me.
I was still completely naked—only the towel and shirt covering my modesty. The numbness that befuddled my brain had begun to wear off, and it occurred to me just how closely I was plastered against Titus’ body.
His plaid shirt was wet now too, and the thin layers between us left nothing to the imagination. I could feeleverything. Every hard, defined line of his muscles. Every breath. I could hear every beat of his heart as it pumped frantically beneath my cheek.
It was hard to focus. What was with this man and plaid? How could someone look so sexy while wearing it? I didn’t think the lumberjack look was a thing—until now.
What was wrong with me? If something didn’t change soon, then I was going to spontaneously combust. This was a disaster!
I couldn’t see the rest of the room very well from our location, but I had to find the others. Anything to distract myself from him.
Damen had returned to his feet and paced between us and the fireplace. Meanwhile, Titus shifted to the side slightly, allowing me more of a view and helping the fire warm my back. Miles sat in an armchair, head in his hands. His shoulders were tense—and he was still bare chested.
And Julian. He sat on his knees beside me, whispering in my ear, “Give me the towel and shirt. And we need to switch blankets. Everything is wet now.”
Titus must have heard—his heart lurched. I hadn’t fared much better. My whole face was overcome with heat. What had I been mentally complaining about?Thistowel? It wasn’t too thin at all. It was my favorite thing in the world—I never wanted it to leave me.
I glanced up at Titus’ face, but his blank expression didn’t match the pounding of his heart. I didn’t understand whyhe’dbe nervous, though. Unless, of course, he was scared of Maria. She could find out that he had touched another girl and would kick the crap out of him. Having a gangster girlfriend was probably frightening.
